Visual Research Methods - Ch. 3 All Photos Lie

Chapter 3 of Visual Research Methods is titled, “All photos lie”. It’s an interesting claim that probably changes the way I will view photos in the future. The author begs us to question how a photographer stages their shoot and what message is being conveyed? Everyone looks at or approaches photo viewing in their own way.

Another topic of question is, how do we ensure that visual sociology is valid? We are encouraged to be transparent in the methods we use as the photographer. Tell your audience everything about the photo. What lenses were used? What process was used to achieve your end result? Was the light, color, direction or quality of photo manipulated or edited? How many photo choices did photographer have that they didn’t use or choose to share with audience. An example could be taking 20 selfies until you reach the right one that conveys the story you want to tell. We have the ability to manipulate visual data through cropping and filters. The main point here is to be clear about why we as the photographers did what we did.

Every photo is a series of choices we make. We look at the content, intent, and context of a photo. Question the intent of the photographer! The goal is to figure out if photo is manipulated. Never ask, “is the photo real?”. The truth is, it’s never real! Decisive moments are what direct our story telling. Look at images as data. A good question to ask one’s self is, “does honesty have anything to do with reality?”.